At Last

You may remember the last post and the dodgy Aston electrics.  Finally found the fuse box, lifted the carpet, removed the floor panel, and presto a fuse box.  All I knew was I was looking at a 23 amp fuse.  There were three, all fine.  No little tweezers in the fuse box, you have to supply your own or have tiny teeny fingers.

After checking all the fuses were fine.  So put it all back together again and the window works.  Sort of, it just wont do the little jump when you close the door to fit it snugly back in the hood.  Well next week it goes in for its service so Aston can sort it out.  Can't wait to see what they have to say for themselves.

Had a brochure for new Peugeot 508 in the post yesterday.  Seems like a nice car but the brochure is just bland.  Nothing to get you excited at all.  Just a few little pictures and wheels colours and lots of pictures of seats !  Now I have been looking at car brochures for years (sad but true), and it seems with the use of the Internet and tools such as car configurators it would seem the good old brochure may be heading the way of the dinosaur.  Do boys still run around car shows with carrier bags bulging with brochures ?

Its not always a given that the dealer will offer you one.  My last three dealer visits 2 offered brochures and the with the third you had to try hard to prise his card out of his hand.  So anyone have a favourite brochure and should we be preserving them before its all too late ?

You Won't Believe This

Certain cars cost quite a bit of money to buy and maintain. The more expensive the car, the better the brand the more you pay.

So when something goes wrong on an Aston Martin DB9 convertible, would you just throw it at the dealer with a note to fix it whatever the cost ?

As cars get more complex, lifting up the bonnet seems like a waste of time.  You may be able to check oil and water but that's about it.  Gone are the days of changing your own oil and plugs.  How old do I sound ?  But I don't think a bit of basic knowledge about how a car works ever does any harm.

Back to the Aston in question.  The problem is the drivers door window is down and refusing to go up.  So you could just drive it to the nearest main dealer.  But I like a bit of a challenge and the dodgy window in my BMW convertible was just a switch, and that was a five minute fix.

The sensible place to start would be to check the fuse.  First thing you need to do is find the fuse box.  This car has three according to the manual.  One in the engine bay, one in the passenger foot well and one  in the boot.  So far so easy.  For the passenger compartment the fuse box I need was in the passenger foot well.  I hunted high and low practically standing on my head to find it.  Nope no fuse box.  I'm not really that stupid am I ?  There was nothing else for it but to get on the phone to Aston and admit that I couldn't find a fuse box.

Lovely lady put me on hold for a few minutes then came back to inform me as to how to find it.  What you have to do it lift the carpet and you will find an inspection panel with seven star head screws, remove the panel and you should find the fuse box.  Simple.  Except I didn't have a hex headed screw driver.  Flat yes, phillips yes but not the one I want.  As yet I still have to get back to the car and decide whether it is the fuse, or switch or relay or regulator.  Watch this space.

This also has to go down as the most difficult to find fuse box in all the cars I have known.  The car where it is easy to find but you have to stand on your head to get to it, is a Mazda MX5,  if mine ever blows another fuse the garage can have it.  So do you know of any others that are more difficult to find/get to ?

Miss Daisy ?

Hope you all had a good Bank Holiday weekend.  One question though is if people don't normally drive on the roads, why do they all hit the highways en masse on a Bank Holiday.

And for those of the Miss Daisy tendencies allow me to impart some advice.  25mph is not the new 30mph.
By the same measure 30mph is not the new forty, and 68mph in the outside lane of a clear motorway is guaranteed to raise my blood pressure.  Add to this the fact that mirror signal manoeuvre, seems to have been replaced by slow down, brake, swerve left.  Also indicating right, positioning you car in the road, then changing you mind and carrying on without checking the traffic trying to pass you on the inside is a sure way to alter the appearance of your Nissan Juke !

All this was witnessed by me on one Bank Holiday drive.  People were oblivious to the queue of twenty cars behind them as they dawdled through the English countryside at 25mph.  20mph if they hit a hill !

There was also a distinct lack of Police to be seen.  Normally keen to give you points for doing 33mph in a 30mph zone, there were none to be seen, so the Daisy brigade had carte blanche to cause chaos.

So I think the key here is next Bank Holiday stay at home unless you have some tablets that will help keep your blood pressure down.

Car Giant

Spent today chasing a car.  You trawl the websites find the perfect car, get ready to go and see it and its gone !

Apparently this is not an uncommon occurrence as the used car supermarket that is Car Giant. in West London, also bills itself as the world’s Largest Car Dealership and stocks up to 5,000 used cars.  Which is an impressive claim and is backed up by the vast array of vehicles on display.

You wander around find the car you want, go to the sales reception, register with a well versed salesman, swap your keys for the car you want to look at.  You can start the engine but have to go back to your salesman to arrange a test drive.

It can all be taken care of in one easy transaction that will include part exchange if you have one.  Finance if you need it, and even a restaurant for you to mull over the huge choice.

Another bonus is the no haggle.  The price you see on the screen is the price you pay for the car, so its all straightforward  Why can't more car buying experiences be this way.  So if your next car is a Citroen or Mercedes, from £3000 to £155000 you could do a lot worse than start your search at CarGiant.co.uk.

Time To Buy A Car

The world around me seems to have gone car buying mad !  Must have something to do with the sunshine.  A friend just phoned to say she had bought an Audi A1, her first new car ever.  She is so excited.  At least this time she wasn't buying an Alfa, but something uber trendy as a young girl should.

Boredom has set in with another friend and a day is pencilled in for trawling dealers, and test driving cars which will either excite or fail to deliver on the the promises made by glossy adverts. Not to mention trying to buy the car you want and not the one the salesman wants you to have.

Another position you may find yourself in is when a trusty friend gives up the ghost.  Has to be replaced by something.  But are you the sensible kind who works out the costs over the next five years, which colour has the best resale value and end up with a beige eurobox?  Or do you let you heart take over for a bit and buy a sporty little number that you have always promised yourself ?

A friend is in the second part of that paragraph, and before its all too late would like to do the fun before practical.  An Audi TT was high on the list.  But purchase and running costs aren't the cheapest in the world.  As we know buying an Audi is one thing but running it is not always cheap.

Enter the alternative, a Hyundai Coupe.  Not a bad looking car, and the Hyundai brand is on the up with cars like the IX35 et al.  So reasonable to drive, good to look at and not costing the earth to run.  Job done.  Which is fine for second hand but I really would like to see a Hyundai Veloster in the flesh. Another cool Hyundai maybe and due to arrive around October.

My Aston Martin Is Rubbish !

My Aston Martin Is Rubbish is the actual name of a web site, and after my friends experiences yesterday I can see why you would agree with this sentiment.

Yesterday the sun was out the sky was blue and people are still making frustrated by driving convertibles with the roof up. Do you really want a convertible ?

But I digress, the Aston in question is a DB9 Volante convertible.  It has been suffering from starting problems due to the battery running flat.  Yesterday the roof was down, but the passenger window would not go down, so the roof stayed down.  Later the same day it was a non starter due to a  flat battery.  This was replaced by the man from the AA, then big surprise the drivers window would not go up !
http://www.astonmartin.com/

Frustrating as these electrical problems are, its not the sort of thing you expect on a car of this calibre.  Maybe a Fiat or Renault but Aston ?  A quick sweep of the web and I pulled up a plethora of problems from other disgruntled Aston owners.  This car is now on its way to be part exchanged for something that starts stops and goes without all the dramas.  Maybe a lovely BMW 6 Series convertible.
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/6series/overview.html

And remember if you have a convertible and the sun is out get the roof down.  These days is pretty straightforward a button, or a couple of clips and its done.  Except a Suzuki Vitara, taking the roof of that was similar to pitching a tent in a gale. Enjoy the sun !

Plug and Go

You may remember in an earlier post I raised the subject of the onslaught of zero emission electric vehicles.  One of the points raised was where in town would you plug one in if you were running low.  I fired off an e-mail to the local council and this is what came back:

Dear Your Car Companion

Many thanks for your email and please accept my apologies for the delay
in responding - I was away last week when it was forwarded to me.

We are supportive of electric vehicle technology and are actively
pursuing sources of funding to help us implement charging infrastructure
across the Royal Borough.

We are actively talking with local suppliers and hope to engage the
business community over the coming months to establish the level of
demand in private non-residential car parks.

If there are any locations where you would particularly wish to see
electric charging points installed then please do let me know and we can
add them to the list of sites to be considered.

Kind regards,

Gordon Oliver
Principal Transport Policy Officer
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

So it would seems as yet there is no funding in place and they have yet to decide where to put them !  I wonder if Nissan know this ?  Do you know what your council is up to ?

London has secured £17 million to fund 7,500 electric vehicle charging points by 2013. At least they have a plan and this can be found through their website www.london.gov.uk/electricvehicles. Makes for interesting reading.

So whats going on with you and would your council's plans effect whether or not you would but an electric vehicle ? 

World's Largest Audi Centre

Went with a couple of friends at the weekend to visit Audi West London, also known as the world's largest Audi centre.http://www.audi.co.uk/content/audi/locate-a-centre/search-centres/partner-uk/sytner-group/westlondon.html

At the risk of doing a Victor Meldrew, the experience did not live up to expectations.  Premium brand, quality cars, and rubbish service.  Welcome to Audi.

All they need to do is visit Mercedes Benz World at Brooklands to see how a premium brand flagship should be run.  Obviously turning up Sunday morning was not a good move.

Friend number one has to order her new work car.  Audi A3 came out top of the list.  But choosing a colour by the website car configurator is not always the best way.  So the salesman, oh wait no salesman they were all busy.  We were left to wander on our own trying to decipher the difference between Condor Grey Metallic and Dakota Grey Metallic, which I swear looks brown in some light.  In the end we decided on white, they only had one shade !

Blow number two for Audi came when we wanted to see a R8 Spyder.  This is to replace a Aston DB9 which looks good but doesn't move a lot because it always has a flat battery.  Sorry sir we have no Spyder in the showroom. Followed by a we have one but oh look we must have sold it, followed by a let me see if there is one in the workshop. Oh no someone has taken it for the weekend, but did you want to see one ?  No its the type of car you always buy after looking at the pictures.  Not details were taken no follow up offered.  Mercedes SL AMG anyone ?

The largest Audi Centre in the World had no R8 Spyder, or Q7 for that matter, sorry boys it just not good enough.  Its 2011 and you are not selling Kias.

Car Wash Drama

At some point we all have to clean our car.  Some by car cleaners, some jet wash, or car wash.  Or the other strange breed who spend sunday afternoons with a pressure washer, toothbrush and chamois.

After filling with diesel yesterday I thought a quick blast through the car wash would not be a bad thing, I know its not good for the paintwork but time was against me.  Only once has a car wash refused my Audi, and that was because it has factory fitted roof bars and the attendent was convinced his car wash would take them off !

Well the roof bars were fine, but I looked on with horror as my roof aerial was ripped off and thrown 50 feet in front of the car.  And all you can do is sit there and wait for the cycle to finish before you can inspect the damage.

Which as it turns out wasn't too bad.  Instead of the aerial mast bending it has just bent and then snapped!

So a car with no raidio was not an option.  A quick phone call to the nice people at Audi told me a new mast would set me back £42.  Thanks but no thanks.  So E-bay to the rescue and by 3 o'clock I had ordered a new mast all in for £19.50.  The best part was it arrived at 9 this morning and the Audi now has tunes.

I suppose the moral is if you are going to be lazy and put the car through the car wash take the aerial off first, and don't buy parts from Audi unless you really have to.

Reliability ?

Just read the 2011 J D Power survey on the most reliable cars on the road today.  Makes for interesting reading.

It covers everything from reliability through performance handling and practicality to give a car an overall score.  And who comes out in the top two ?  The Skoda Superb and Yeti.  Its a long way from the Skodas of old which used to be the brunt of  all the jokes.

At the other end of the scale the bottom two come in with the old Ford Ka at 100 and the Fiat Grande Punto at 99.  The Fiat is no surprise, but the old Ford I thought would have been put together better.

We all have tales of cars good and bad that we have owned, and as a great believer in German technology I thought I couldn't put a foot wrong.  I was sort of right.  My Audi A6 has been a wonderful all rounder with only the cost of parts taking the shine off ownership. I still think £56 to change a light bulb is a bit steep if Aston Green Audi are reading this.

By the same measure the worst car I have owned, and for some reason still do, is a Mercedes ML270.  Bits keep dropping off and going wrong, broken turbos, sunroofs & various sensors.  Then you have the cost to get them fixed, which comes out at huge for a clunky old Merc.

Friends have also had their horror stories with cars that have proved less than reliable, including Land Rover Freelander, Range Rover Sport, and a couple of Minis. Not the sort of cars you would think of as giving grief.

On the manufacturing front the top three are Skoda, Lexus and Jaguar.  So you can choose safely whatever your budget.  And the three down the bottom are Fiat, Smart and lastly Chevrolet.  Not a good result for Smart who are competing in a more difficult market thanks to the Fiat 500 and Toyota IQ.

So next time you are out spending money on a shiny new car don't just think about how much money you can save buying it, but take into consideration which one gives the best ownership experience.  Skoda anyone ?

Going Green

The writing seems to be on the wall.  Most manufacturers now seem to be following a zero emissions electric course.  I think the closest we have in real terms will be the launch of the Nissan Leaf which you can already  reserve with Nissan .http://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/electric-vehicles/electric-leaf.htm?cid=pselectricvehicleUK_enelectricvehiclelocuk&kw=Nissan_leaf#vehicles/electric-vehicles/electric-leaf

It seems a competent enough vehicle, but it fills me with dread.  First off is the charging of the thing.  Yes I have off road parking but not sure a 3m cable will reach.  Then the range is quoted as 109 miles NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) which I am not sure it will come close to in the real world.  Lights, wipers, aircon, hills wind resistance will all play there part in losing power. Then price, Nissan would like is £30,990 but with a government grant of £5000 it takes it down to £25,990 ouch ! Where Nissan go then Reanult are sure to follow with a the Renault Zoe due in 2012 and the Renault Fluence not far behind.

After a brief chat with my local council have just discovered my town has no charging points available at the moment, I think a little more research is in order.

So if you still fancy going green and zero emissions are a bit too avant garde then Toyota with their range of hybrids Prius, Auris and IQ may be the answer.  Electric when you need it and the power of petrol on tap too.  The £20.145 Toyota Auris hybrid quotes a combined fuel economy figure of 74.34, not too shabby if achievable in the real world.

Fiat have taken a different approach with their 500 Twin Air and using small turbocharged petrol engines have kept co2(g/km) down to 95 and a combined fuel figure of 69.9 .  Reasonable too at a starting price of £10865.http://www.fiat.co.uk/500twinair/?campaignid=PPC1313

And it goes on with VW using their Bluemotion Technology across the Polo Golf and Passat ranges.

So going green is not a simple choice, you have Zero Emission electric, Hybrid electric petrol, then much more efficient petrol and diesel models now on offer.  It seem to boil down to the size of your budget and your commitment to reducing your consumption of fossil fuel.  But it seems electric is going to be big.

Must Watch TV

We are all a big fan of the slightly commercial and egocentric Top Gear, but tonight we have a new series of the very watchable Wheeler Dealers, Discovery Channel at 9 pm.

The concept behind this programme is the very simple one of cheeky chappy Mike Brewer buying a classic car in need of some love and attention, then handing over to mechanic Ed China who sorts out all the problems.  Then its sold on for a profit.

It the sort of thing you would love to have a go at yourself.  All it would take is money, confidence, and most difficult of all a friendly mechanic with the knowledge to do it all.

Tonights episode sees a Mini Moke get the treatment, and where they actually managed to find one I cant wait to find out.  Give it a go you'll be hooked.

The Sun Is Out !

So we now have a few days of sunshine, its that time of year to look longingly at convertibles.  But do they really make sense in Britain ?

Having just said goodbye to a Mercedes SLK that was turning into a rather costly lawn ornament due to lack of use, would I buy another ?

I think the answer is yes.  But again it would fall into the category of being used on those sunny occasions, and the odd weekend away.  Manufacturers these days are filling every niche market they can think of, BMW X6 anyone ?  But I have yet to see a practical convertible that does not compromise for everyday use.

For me the most sensible option would be a not exactly cheap  £35,225 Mercedes E class.  But I still can't reconcile a convertible with a diesel engine, it somehow seems wrong. Wind in your hair and the clatter of a diesel ?

The other question raised is hard top or soft top.  If you are lucky enough to have a garage then its not too bad, but leaving a soft top out in all weathers won't do it any good in the long run, as my 3 Series BMW will testify.  So a folding hard top seems to be the answer, and the one of the SLK worked just fine.

So all I am really looking for  is a convertible as practical and ecoomical as an Audi A6 Avant with the performance and looks of an Audi R8 Convertible.  Is that really too much to ask for ?